Story Time

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 The Bird King
• All the animals in the jungle had a king. The birds were jealous. They wanted a
king too. “Let me be king. Look at my wonderful colours!” Said the beautiful
parakeet. “ No, no,” said the myna. “I can speak and talk to the other animals. I
should be king.” “And I have a fantastic beak!” Said Toucan. “I want to be the
bird king.” “I know,” said the macaw. “Why don’t we have a competition? The
bird who can y the highest will be the bird king.” Everyone thought this was an
excellent idea, especially the eagle. “Make me king now,” he said. “I am the
strongest, and I can y the highest.” “Ah,” said the little voice. “But you might not
win!” “Ha ha!” Laughed the eagle. “You can’t beat me little sparrow!” “We’ll see,”
said the sparrow. The race began, and all the birds ew high into the sky. They
ew higher, and higher, and eagle ew the highest. “Ha! I told you!” Squawked
the eagle. “I, I am the king!” But the sparrow was hiding under the eagle’s wing.
Suddenly, he ew higher than the eagle’s head. The sparrow was the highest bird
of all. He won the competition! And the sparrow was the new bird king.

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The clever monkey
• Once upon a time, there was a clever monkey. He lived on a beautiful island, in an
apple tree. One day, a crocodile swam to the island. “I’m hungry,” he said. So the
monkey threw a red apple to the crocodile. The crocodile munched and munched.
The next day, the crocodile came back. “Please, may I have two apples?” He asked.
He ate one, and gave one to his wife. The crocodile went to see the monkey every
day, to listen to his tales, and eat his apples. He wanted to be clever, just like the
monkey. The crocodile’s wife had an idea. “ Why don’t you eat his heart? Then you’ll
be clever, just like him!” The next day, he said to the monkey, “Come to my house!
We’ll have lunch together, to thank you for the apples.” But when he arrived, the
crocodile snapped, and said, “Monkey! I want to eat your heart, so I can be as clever
as you!” The clever monkey thought quickly, and said, “But…I haven’t got my heart
here. It’s on the island, in the apple tree.” They all went back to the island. “Wait here,
and I will get my heart,” said the monkey. The monkey quickly climbed the tree, and
sat at the top. “ Oh Crocodile. You are greedy. Of course you can’t have my heart. And
now, you can’t have my apples!” And the clever monkey laughed and laughed.

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The lion and the mouse

• A lion was asleep in the sun one day. A little mouse came out to play. The little
mouse ran up the lion’s neck and slid down his back. The lion caught him with
a great big snack! “I’m going to eat you!” The lion roared, his mouth open
wide. “No, no, please don’t!” The little mouse cried. “Be kind to me, and one
day I’ll help you.” “I’m a lion. You’re a mouse! What can you do?” The lion
laughed, very hard, and the mouse ran away. But the mouse was out walking
the very next day. He heard a big roar, and squeaked when he saw the king of
the jungle tied to a tree. But the mouse had a plan to set him free. The mouse
worked quickly, and chewed through the rope. The lion said, “Oh little mouse, I
had no hope. You were right, little mouse, thank you, I’m free. You’re the best
friend there ever could be!”

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 The lump of gold
• Paul was a very rich man, but he never spent any of his money. He was scared
that someone would steal it. He pretended to be poor, and wore dirty old clothes.
People laughed at him, but he didn’t care. He only cared about his money. One
day, he bought a big lump of gold. He hid it, in a hole by a tree. Every night, he
went to the hole, to look at his treasure. He sat, and he looked. “No-one will ever
nd my gold!” He said. But one night, a thief saw Paul, looking at his gold. And
when Paul went home, the thief picked up the lump of gold, slipped it into his bag,
and ran away! The next day, Paul went to look at his gold, but it wasn’t there. It
had disappeared! Paul cried and cried! He cried so loud, that a wise old man heard
him. He came to help. Paul told him the sad tale of the stolen lump of gold. “Don’t
worry.”he said. “Get a big stone, and put it in the hole by the tree.” “What?” Said
Paul, “Why?””What did you do with your lump of gold?” “I sat and looked at it
every day,” said Paul. “Exactly,” said the wise old man. “You can do exactly the
same with a stone.” Paul listened, thought for a moment, and then said, “Yes,
you’re right. I’ve been very silly. I don’t need a lump of gold to be happy!”

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 The magic fish
• Every day, Robert’s grandfather went shing. One day, Robert asked to go too.
“Well, I want to catch the magic sh. The rst person to eat it, will become the
cleverest person in the world. Can you help me?” “Yes!” Said Robert, and they went
shing. First, they caught a yellow sh with purple spots. “Wow! Is that the magic
sh?” Asked Robert. “No.” Said his grandfather. Then they caught a blue sh, with
red stripes. “Is that the magic sh?” Asked Robert. “No.” Said his grandfather.
Suddenly, they caught a big, beautiful silver sh, with pink and green dimonds.
Robert’s grandfather jumped for joy. It was the magic sh! They started to cook the
sh, and his grandfather went to get some more wood. He asked Robert to watch
the sh, but not to eat any of it. Robert watched the sh very carefully. He saw a tiny
bubble on its tail. He touched it with his nger. Pop! The bubble burst. The sh was
very hot, and burnt his nger. Ouch! He put his nger in his mouth. When his
grandfather came back, he saw that something was di erent. “Did you touch the
sh?” Asked his grandfather. “Yes, I’m sorry,” said Robert. His grandfather sighed a
happy sigh, and gave Robert a big hug. “The magic sh chose you. You are the
cleverest boy in the world, and I am the proudest grandfather ever!”

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 The magic paintbrush
• Rose loved drawing. She was very poor, and didn’t have pens or pencils. She drew
pictures in the sand with sticks. One day, an old woman saw Rose, and said,
“Hello! Here’s a paintbrush, and some paper for you.” “Thank you!” Smiled Rose.
She was so happy. “Hmmm, what can I paint?” She thought. She looked around,
and saw a duck on the pond. “I know! I’ll paint a duck!” So she did. Suddenly, the
duck ew o the paper and on to the pond. “Wow!” She said, “A magic
paintbrush!” Rose was a very kind girl, and she painted pictures for everyone in
her village. She painted a cow for the farmer, pencils for the teacher, and toys for
all the children. The king heard about the magic paintbrush, and sent a soldier to
nd Rose. “Come with me,” said the soldier. “The king wants you to paint some
money for him.” “But he’s already rich,” said Rose. “I only paint to help poor
people.” But the nasty soldier took Rose to the king. “Paint me a tree, with lots of
money on it,”he shouted. Rose was brave, and said,”No!” So the king sent her to
prison. But Rose painted a key for the door, and a horse to help her escape. The
king chased after her. So she painted a big hole, and splat! The king fell in. Today,
Rose only uses her magic paintbrush to help people who really, really need help.

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The sneaky Rabbit
• One night, when the moon was very bright, Rabbit was resting near a pond. He
was very tired, and wanted to go to sleep, but he was scared the tiger was going
to eat him up. Rabbit tried and tried to stay awake. He looked up at the sky, and
started to count the stars. Soon Rabbit was fast asleep. Suddenly, a loud booming
voice woke him up. It was Tiger!”Ahh ha! I’ve got you, little Rabbit! You’ll be
perfect in my soup!” Rabbit was very frightened, but he had an idea. He looked in
the water, and saw the re ection of the moon. It looked like a big lump of cheese.
He moved his mouth, pretending to eat, and said”Mmm yum yum yum yum. Ah
Tiger. I’m happy to see you. Yum yum yum. Come and share this delicious white
cheese with me. Yum yum yum. I’m keeping it fresh for you in the pond.” Tiger
loved white cheese. He licked his lips. “Mmm yum. I can see the cheese. But how
do you get it out of the pond?”he asked. “Easy,”said Rabbit, “I tie this stone aound
my foot, and jump in. Do you want to try?” Tiger tied the stone around his foot,
and jumped into the pond. Splash! Rabbit ran away, saying,”Ha ha! Now you’re the
one in the soup!” And I’ve heard that Tiger is still trying to get out of the pond.

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The ugly Duckling
• Mummy Duck lived on a farm. In her nest, she had ve little eggs, and one big
egg. One day, the ve little eggs started to crak. Five pretty, yellow baby
ducklings came out. Then the big egg started to crack. Bang, bang, bang! One
big, ugly duckling came out. “That’s strange,” thought Mummy Duck. Nobody
wanted to play with him. “Go away,”said his brothers and sisters, “You’re ugly!”
The ugly duckling was said. So he went to nd some new friends. “Go away!”
said the pig. “Go away!”said the sheep. “Go sway!”said the cow. “Go away!”said
the horse.No-one wanted to be his friend. It started to get cold. It started to
snow! The ugly duckling found an empty barn, and lived there. He was cold, sad,
and alone. Then spring came. The ugly duckling left the barn and went back to
the pond. He was very thirsty, and put his beak into the water. He saw a beautiful
white bird! “Wow!”he said,”Who’s that?” “It’s you,”said another beautiful white
bird.”Me?But I’m an ugly duckling.” “Not anymore. You’re a beautiful swan, like
me. Do you want to be my friend?” “Yes,” he smiled. All the other animals
watched as the two swans ew away, friends forever.

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